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PUBLICITY AGENTS PHOTO OPTICS
DeMarcus Cousins' Summer Basketball Clinic
at Sacramento Charter High School
Report and Photo Art by T. RAY HARVEY
PA Press Information Officer and Photo Artist
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Since DeMarcus Cousins began holding one of his Kamps 4 Kids basketball clinics at Sacramento Charter High School for the last few years, he, with passion, considers the neighborhood it’s held in as “our community.”
The free, two-day, youth basketball camps are placed in Sac High’s Dave Hotell Pavilion for underprivileged youngsters ages 7 to 16 in the neighborhood of Oak Park, an area where most of the kids in the clinic reside.
Most people who live outside of the neighborhood and well beyond would never claim the area, which became Sacramento’s “first suburb” in the early 1900s. Oak Park is known more for its association with crime and despair than its historic background.
Mixed in with Oak Park’s local youth, up to 200 young hoopers from diverse, socioeconomic backgrounds in the Sacramento region are bestowed “scholarships” provided by partners of the business community, including primary supporter VSP Vision Care.
“The kids were happy, they learned a lot about the game, how to communicate, and how to get along with one another,” Cousins said on the last day of the basketball clinic at Sac High. “I think these two days were definitely a success. I am just doing my part to make it happen.”
The Sacramento metropolitan area, has a population of about 2.5 million people which compasses seven counties, in reference to the 2010 U.S. Census. The city alone has nearly 500,000 residents, making it the sixth largest in California.
There are faces from every corner of the world in Sacramento. Sacramento is “America’s most diverse city” in the country, according to a 2000 report by Time magazine. The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University conducted the research for the Time article.
In addition, the Sacramento City Unified School District, one of five major districts in Sacramento County, serves a student population of 48,000 pupils that speaks upward to 44 different languages. More than a quarter of the students are classified as English Language Learners.
Cousins’ free basketball camp is a reflection of the city and region. He likes that part.
“Sacramento represents all type of people,” Cousins said. “There are all type of races in this camp and I think that’s a beautiful thing. But at the end of the day, they are kids, they are our future, and they all matter. Each race matters.”
With good reasons, Cousins has a right to be a part of Sacramento and Oak Park community and he doesn’t just show up at Sac High once a year to host a summer basketball camp. During his free time off the court he visit the school for special events.
Cousins also drifts into North Sacramento to inspire youth at Grant Union High School in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood, another one of Sacramento’s challenged areas.
When one of the youth members of Grant’s football team was shot and killed in November 2015, Cousin quietly paid for the funeral. His deed became public when a city councilman nonchalantly told the local media.
While Cousins was holding down his basketball camp at Sac High, the community and school were in the early stages of mourning for former 19-year-old football player who died June 11 from a shotgun wound. The Sacramento Sheriff’s department has turned the matter into a homicide investigation.
“I think we ought to do a better job of playing our part in the community to actually let these kids believe in themselves,” Cousin said of the violence involving Sacramento youth. “It will give them a chance to do other things beside killing one another, fighting, or whatever the case may be. We all have to do our part in our community.”
As far as Cousins’ two-day venture in Oak Park, there are entities that are doing their part. VSP Vision Care parks a mobile van out in front of Dave Hotell Pavilion to offer campers and their families free eye exams and glasses. The van starts a day before the basketball clinic and stays until it ends.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
5:14 p.m., PST
PUBLICITY AGENTS PHOTO OPTICS
DeMarcus Cousins' Summer Basketball Clinic
at Sacramento Charter High School
Report and Photo Art by T. RAY HARVEY
PA Press Information Officer and Photo Artist
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Since DeMarcus Cousins began holding one of his Kamps 4 Kids basketball clinics at Sacramento Charter High School for the last few years, he, with passion, considers the neighborhood it’s held in as “our community.”
The free, two-day, youth basketball camps are placed in Sac High’s Dave Hotell Pavilion for underprivileged youngsters ages 7 to 16 in the neighborhood of Oak Park, an area where most of the kids in the clinic reside.
Most people who live outside of the neighborhood and well beyond would never claim the area, which became Sacramento’s “first suburb” in the early 1900s. Oak Park is known more for its association with crime and despair than its historic background.
Mixed in with Oak Park’s local youth, up to 200 young hoopers from diverse, socioeconomic backgrounds in the Sacramento region are bestowed “scholarships” provided by partners of the business community, including primary supporter VSP Vision Care.
“The kids were happy, they learned a lot about the game, how to communicate, and how to get along with one another,” Cousins said on the last day of the basketball clinic at Sac High. “I think these two days were definitely a success. I am just doing my part to make it happen.”
The Sacramento metropolitan area, has a population of about 2.5 million people which compasses seven counties, in reference to the 2010 U.S. Census. The city alone has nearly 500,000 residents, making it the sixth largest in California.
There are faces from every corner of the world in Sacramento. Sacramento is “America’s most diverse city” in the country, according to a 2000 report by Time magazine. The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University conducted the research for the Time article.
In addition, the Sacramento City Unified School District, one of five major districts in Sacramento County, serves a student population of 48,000 pupils that speaks upward to 44 different languages. More than a quarter of the students are classified as English Language Learners.
Cousins’ free basketball camp is a reflection of the city and region. He likes that part.
“Sacramento represents all type of people,” Cousins said. “There are all type of races in this camp and I think that’s a beautiful thing. But at the end of the day, they are kids, they are our future, and they all matter. Each race matters.”
With good reasons, Cousins has a right to be a part of Sacramento and Oak Park community and he doesn’t just show up at Sac High once a year to host a summer basketball camp. During his free time off the court he visit the school for special events.
Cousins also drifts into North Sacramento to inspire youth at Grant Union High School in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood, another one of Sacramento’s challenged areas.
When one of the youth members of Grant’s football team was shot and killed in November 2015, Cousin quietly paid for the funeral. His deed became public when a city councilman nonchalantly told the local media.
While Cousins was holding down his basketball camp at Sac High, the community and school were in the early stages of mourning for former 19-year-old football player who died June 11 from a shotgun wound. The Sacramento Sheriff’s department has turned the matter into a homicide investigation.
“I think we ought to do a better job of playing our part in the community to actually let these kids believe in themselves,” Cousin said of the violence involving Sacramento youth. “It will give them a chance to do other things beside killing one another, fighting, or whatever the case may be. We all have to do our part in our community.”
As far as Cousins’ two-day venture in Oak Park, there are entities that are doing their part. VSP Vision Care parks a mobile van out in front of Dave Hotell Pavilion to offer campers and their families free eye exams and glasses. The van starts a day before the basketball clinic and stays until it ends.
The other supporters of the basketball camp at Sac High are Nike, Mikuni, Body Armor, Chase Chevrolet, Shock Doctor, McDonald’s IGM (Itzko Glass Metal Inc.), Super Taco Mexican Restaurants, and Bell Bros. Plumbing and Heating to name a few.
Brain Leath, one of the many volunteers who helps with the basketball camp, and his son Loren Leath, a former Sacramento State University basketball player, know Cousins’ commitment off the court. Brian Leath said Cousin’s basketball operation at Sac High “is a good thing and necessary” for a variety of reasons.
“The community needs this,” the elder Leath said. “You need a balance. In life, there are going to be things you’re not going to agree with. I can say that because I know. But kids don’t know. Things can change their lives forever. It can can be so traumatic. But on the flipside, a young man like DeMarcus Cousins, someone you see on television, comes to your neighborhood and plays basketball with you is therapeutic for kids. He’s just like us,” Brian Leath stated.
PA’s PRESS INFORMATION:
DeMarcus Cousins revealed to the youngsters during a “Top of the Key” question-and-answer segment of how he got the nickname “Boogie” at his basketball camp held at Sac High.
“My assistant coach at Kentucky, Rod Strickland, started calling me Boogie. He said every time I got the ball down in the post it was like I was dancing, boogieing. The name stuck.”
—
PASS ME A JOERGER
The Sacramento Kings new head coach Dave Joerger attended Cousins’ youth basketball camp and had a chance to speak with campers.
“We want to get this town back to winning as the way it was before,” Joerger said to the campers of his vision for the Kings.
—
THE 2010 UNITED STATE CENSUS’ RACIAL MAKEUP OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO (CALIFORNIA):
-
210,006 (45.0 percent) White
-
80,005 (16.6 percent) African American
-
85,503 (17.8 percent) Asian (4.2 percent), Chinese (3.3 percent), Hmong (2.8 percent), Filipino (1.6 percent), Indian (1.4 percent), Vietnamese 1.2 percent Laotian (1.2 percent), Japanese (0.3 percent), Pakistani (0.3 percent), Korean (0.3 percent), Thai (0.2 percent Cambodian)
-
6,655 (1.4 percent) Pacific Islander (0.6 percent Fijian, 0.2 percent Tongan, 0.2 percent Samoan)
-
5,291 (1.1 percent) Native American
-
57,573 (12.3 percent) other races
-
33,125 (7.1 percent) from two or more races.
— Report and Photo Art by T. RAY HARVEY
PA Press Information Officer and Photo Artist
The other supporters of the basketball camp at Sac High are Nike, Mikuni, Body Armor, Chase Chevrolet, Shock Doctor, McDonald’s IGM (Itzko Glass Metal Inc.), Super Taco Mexican Restaurants, and Bell Bros. Plumbing and Heating to name a few.
Brain Leath, one of the many volunteers who helps with the basketball camp, and his son Loren Leath, a former Sacramento State University basketball player, know Cousins’ commitment off the court. Brian Leath said Cousin’s basketball operation at Sac High “is a good thing and necessary” for a variety of reasons.
“The community needs this,” the elder Leath said. “You need a balance. In life, there are going to be things you’re not going to agree with. I can say that because I know. But kids don’t know. Things can change their lives forever. It can can be so traumatic. But on the flipside, a young man like DeMarcus Cousins, someone you see on television, comes to your neighborhood and plays basketball with you is therapeutic for kids. He’s just like us,” Brian Leath stated.
PA’s PRESS INFORMATION:
DeMarcus Cousins revealed to the youngsters during a “Top of the Key” question-and-answer segment of how he got the nickname “Boogie” at his basketball camp held at Sac High.
“My assistant coach at Kentucky, Rod Strickland, started calling me Boogie. He said every time I got the ball down in the post it was like I was dancing, boogieing. The name stuck.”
—
PASS ME A JOERGER
The Sacramento Kings new head coach Dave Joerger attended Cousins’ youth basketball camp and had a chance to speak with campers.
“We want to get this town back to winning as the way it was before,” Joerger said to the campers of his vision for the Kings.
—
THE 2010 UNITED STATE CENSUS’ RACIAL MAKEUP OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO (CALIFORNIA):
-
210,006 (45.0 percent) White
-
80,005 (16.6 percent) African American
-
85,503 (17.8 percent) Asian (4.2 percent), Chinese (3.3 percent), Hmong (2.8 percent), Filipino (1.6 percent), Indian (1.4 percent), Vietnamese 1.2 percent Laotian (1.2 percent), Japanese (0.3 percent), Pakistani (0.3 percent), Korean (0.3 percent), Thai (0.2 percent Cambodian)
-
6,655 (1.4 percent) Pacific Islander (0.6 percent Fijian, 0.2 percent Tongan, 0.2 percent Samoan)
-
5,291 (1.1 percent) Native American
-
57,573 (12.3 percent) other races
-
33,125 (7.1 percent) from two or more races.
— Report and Photo Art by T. RAY HARVEY
PA Press Information Officer and Photo Artist
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